


What I love, I devour

by novoselics



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Canon Lesbian Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Human Catra (She-Ra), Human Scorpia (She-Ra), Hurt/Comfort, Internalized Homophobia, Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra)'s A+ Parenting, Slow Burn, catradora
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:08:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 18,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25207489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novoselics/pseuds/novoselics
Summary: Catradora Highschool AU, in which Catra was adopted from the Horde by Shadow Weaver, and Adora by Razz. Catra has just come out to her best friend, Adora, as a lesbian. However she also has a crush on said best friend. Adora has conflicting feelings about Catra, but she keeps telling herself that she is straight. Then something rattles Catra's already crumpled home life and she has to deal with that alone, until her best friend/crush notices something is wrong and tries to help her while ignoring the romantic feelings bubbling inside her. Updates will be posted every day! tysm to everyone for reading, ily all!!
Relationships: Adora & Bow (She-Ra), Adora & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow & Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra & Glimmer (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 71
Kudos: 160





	1. First Day

“Get your stupid ass out the door already! You are going to be late at this rate, and I don’t want to see your face more than necessary!” Shadow Weaver yelled at her adoptive ‘daughter’ who was more like a personal servant to her. Catra still did whatever she was told though, because she constantly craved approval from most authoritative figures in her life. Catra ran out of the door as quickly as possible to avoid any further anguish. She met up with Scorpia a few houses later and they exchanged some basic ‘hellos’ before getting on the bus to avoid being late to their first day of Junior Year at Brightmoon High.

On the other side of town, Adora was leisurely getting ready for school, when she was ready, she ate her breakfast and said goodbye to her adoptive mother, Razz. She knew it was her queue to leave when she heard Glimmer’s car pull up to their driveway. She said goodbye to Razz for the day and hopped in Glimmer’s pink jeep, Adora noticed that Bow was already in the other front seat. “I am really excited to see Catra, SW wouldn’t let her see or talk to anyone over the summer. She does that purely to make Catra miserable. Now that I think about it, I am kind of nervous to see her.” Adora rambled on while the two other people in the car drove in silence. Bow and Glimmer had both already noticed Adora’s feelings for Catra weren’t entirely platonic. They also both know that Adora hadn’t even realized her romantic feelings for Catra by now. 

Adora arrived in homeroom class a few minutes before Catra and started to think a little bit about what Catra told her on their last day of sophomore year. Catra had told Adora that she figured out that she was a lesbian and said that she hoped it wouldn’t change Adora’s opinion of her. Adora, of course, said that it did not matter and that she would always support Catra and that if she ever needed anything, that she would be there to help. Hearing Catra figure out her identity made Adora wonder some things about herself? What is she likes girls too? She now was thinking about how she had never really imagined herself with a guy, or getting married to a guy. However she had always seen girls as pretty and wanted to hold their hands and stuff.

“Heyyy Adora” Catra said in her signature teasing voice that Adora knew all too well. For once in a blue moon, Catra was excited. She was excited to see Adora, and also kind of nervous, the last time they had seen each other was when Catra came out. She knew that her orientation would never bother Adora or make her uncomfortable. She was still nervous nonetheless. What if Adora had told someone? No, Adora would never do that to her. Adora wouldn’t ever betray her like that, not after all they had gone through together in the Horde Orphanage they were raised in by Hordak. 

“Catra! I missed you so much! I really hope your summer wasn’t that miserable. I know that all I wanted to do was see you. I know we left off on something important to you, and I just wanted to tell you that what I said to you last time is true, if you ever need anything, you can talk to me Catra.” Adora says with the usual softness in her voice, the softness that Catra could never get sick of. Catra really appreciated that Adora mentioned that, to the point where she almost cried out of the consideration that Adora showed for her best friend.

“I missed you too, idiot. Thank you for not resenting me for what I said. It means a lot considering what we were taught in the Horde about people who like the same sex. I know you never felt the same way as those assholes, you are always so amazing to everyone and it is impossible for you to judge someone.” Adora pulled Catra into a hug as soon as Catra finished talking. The moment they were sharing when their friend Double Trouble (or DT as everyone calls them) entered the room. 

“Awhh, look at you two little love birds. Don’t get too comfortable darlings, real class is about to start. I know you both missed me, no need to thank me.” DT said with a mock valley accent, eccentric as always. Catra laughed at what DT said about her and Adora being together, knowing Adora would never feel the same way. However Adora blushed as she thought about her and Catra being together, like romantically, that could never happen right? Because Adora is straight, right? Adora forced out a laugh to not seem like her mind was occupied by something else.


	2. army of two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora decides to walk Catra home from now on, SW sees something she probably shouldn't have while watching them from inside through a window. On their walk home, Adora asks Catra a fairly personal question. Catrea decides she wants to come out to her next closest friends: Bow and Glimer. However someone who shouldn't be, is watching their heartfelt moment.

Soon enough, everyone’s first day of Junior year was over, (except for Sea Hawk, Mermista, DT, and ENtrapta, they are all seniors) and everyone was on their separate ways home. Except for Catra and Adora, Adora suggested that she walk Catra home from now on, because they wanted to spend as much time together as possible since they couldn’t see each other on most weekends and throughout the summer. Catra felt kind of guilty knowing she was taking time from other things Adora wanted to do, however Adora assured Catra she wanted to spend time together and that she was always happy to just talk.

Adora stopped Catra after a few minutes and asked Catra a pretty personal question, but Catra had no problem responding because she knew Adora wouldn’t judge her. “Uhhm, Catra, this might be weird and you don’t have to answer, but how did you know that you are a lesbian?” Catra could see that Adora was pretty nervous. She always tapped her foot on the ground at an overwhelming rate when she was nervous, and now was one of those times.

“Hey, it’s okay Adora. I kind of realized I was a lesbian when I noticed I had never been attracted to men, or had a crush on any boys, and after thinking about how I didn’t like guys, I threw around the idea of liking girls in my head, and it kind of stuck, and I was completely solid that I was a lesbian when I got my first crush on a girl and started to notice how pretty girls were when I was around them. I didn’t ever care what the Horde thought about same-sex relationships because they were wrong about everything else, so I figured they were wrong about that too, and I was right” Catra put her arms around Adora, “Not that I need to know, but, why did you want to know?”.

“Uh, just kind of wanted to know, so no reason really, but thank you. I really appreciate it when you can talk to me about vulnerable stuff like that, it reminds me or how much we trust each other, and it makes me really happy. We should probably keep walking before SW gets even more angry at you for no reason. I am really sorry that you have to deal with that.” Adora seemed genuinely upset for her best friend, like she really wanted the best for her. 

“Hey, don’t think too much about it. I should be out of there the moment senior year ends.” Catra tried to cheer her up by smiling at the blonde as the kept walking, silently wishing it would be sooner she was out of there, little did she know, she could be out much sooner than expected.

At some point while they were walking to SW’s house, they started to hold hands, when they both noticed they blushed but did not pull their hands away from each other. They just turned their heads and gave each other a light smile.

However, they hadn’t noticed that they were just standing in front of the house and that SW was watching them through the window, smiling at each other and holding hands. That pretty much confirmed SW’s suspicion that Catra wasn’t straight, she could almost see Catra’s blush from where she was standing in the window. She couldn’t hear them say goodbyes but assumed that there was an “I love you” from both of them. Despite being wrong, those words were floating around in both of the junior’s heads, both thinking that would be something they could never say out loud to their best friend. SW decided to not confront Catra about her ‘issue’ today, and just silently disapproved of her, not so much from a distance though, since Catra just had to live there. 

The next week at school had come rather slowly, and it was Tuesday during lunch that Catra decided to tell her next closest friends something she had only ever told Adora. Catra decided that she wanted to come out to Bow and Glimmer, or as she calls them, Arrow Boy and Sparkles. “Hey Adora, I wanna know if you will help me come out to Sparkles and Arrow Boy today. You don’t have to, but I kind of want to to help and be there.” Catra was a bit nervous to tell them, but she knew they would not mind one bit, because they were both bi themselves. 

“Of course I’ll help you Catra! Wanna do it after school?” Adora said, albeit a little too loud, as she reached over to Catra and pulled her into a one-sided hug. Catra usually didn’t like being soft or ‘affectionate’ in front of other people. She was really only completely comfortable in front of Adora, and sometimes with Bow and Glimmer. 

Soon enough, the school day had ended. Adora asked Bow and Glimmer to meet her and Catra at the front of Brightmoon High when school was over. Catra could see the three of them approaching her and the nerves finally started getting to her, she started doing that “stupid foot tapping thing” as she called it, that Adora does. But Catra’s nerves get instantly soothed as Adora comes up to her side and grabs her hand. “Hi, Sparkles, Arrow Bow. I have something I want to tell you guys something. I know it might not come as a shock but still.” Catra felt Adora smiling at her without even having to look.

“Okay Catra. What are you and Adora dating or something?” Glimmer joked as Bow laughed. Adora threw around the thought of her and Catra dating, and being a couple, around in her head. She thought about why everyone thinks they are dating, or at least teases them about being close, she wondered if people could tell she was doubting herself being straight.

“Um, no, as fun as that would be though. I was actually going to tell you guys that I am a lesbian. I already told Adora this before summer break, on the last day of sophomore year. I wanted to tell you guys because I think you both deserve to know since you two are closest to me, besides Adora.” Adora thought about the first part of what Catra said, the words about as fun as it would be to date her, they stuck with Adora longer than a simple joke should have. As Catra finished her talking, Bow and Glimmer pulled her into a hug. However they didn’t see the person watching them congratulate her. The person watching them just happened to be one of Catra’s few enemies from her time in the Horde orphanage: Octavia. 

Despite nobody knowing of them being watched, they didn’t let anyone ruin the moment. Adora watched Catra let herself be hugged by Bow and Glimmer and shed a tear. “Hey, Adora, why are you crying? What’s wrong?” Catra asked, not noticing Adora was watching her until Bow and Glimmer decided to let go from their group hug. 

“Nothing is wrong Catra. I am just so proud of you for being able to be open about this to people you trust. You’ve come a long way.” Adora sniffled out as Catra pulled her in for a hug, just the two of them. Their army of two, if you will. There come the thoughts of her and Catra, romantically, as in as a couple, more than just friends. Adora didn’t think she would ever be able to tell Catra that she wanted more, she didn’t want to ruin this, what they had, what they had worked for since childhood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys! tysm for keeping up with this story, like i said previously, i will be adding a new chapter every other day! in this chapter i referenced the song, “army of two”, from the show carole & tuesday, feel it fits catra and adora’s dynamic as well as the whole vibe of the chapter and how everyone interacts. once again i am thanking everyone for reading, please feel free to leave comments and kudos! tysm again everyone!


	3. play destroy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra thinks a bit about her childhood and what led to Octavia hating her to this day. She sneaks out when SW leaves for a few days and Adora picks her up for a sleepover. They talk a bit about how other people view their relationship.

Catra and Octavia had always had a sort of feud. When they were kids, they would always get in petty fights over stupid things, most of the time over something that had to do with Adora. The one that really stood out though, was when Octavia was eight and Catra was seven. Octavia challenged Adora to a fight to see who was stronger, because Octavia knew she would lose in a race with Adora. Catra decided that Adora did not have to fight Octavia, because she knew that somehow it would get the both of them in trouble, and somehow Octavia would stay innocent, it had always been that way. Hordak always had something against the pair of best friends. 

Since Catra decided that Adora shouldn’t have to fight Octavia, just because Octavia wanted to, she felt the need to stand up for her best friend. Adora never wanted to stand her ground because she didn’t want to push anyone away, that was not something Catra was scared of doing, she had pushed away almost everyone she could possibly be friends with, everyone but Adora. She went up to Octavia and dished out the meanest remark an eight year old could give, she called Octavia a “dumb face”. That was not the worst of it though, after saying that, she got closer and swiped her long nails across the front of Octavia’s face, leaving a permanent scar. That is what Octavia held against her for all of these years, although the scar had almost faded, her anger never wavered. 

Catra did regret doing that, but had always felt something like it was necessary to protect Adora from getting hurt by her older ‘roommate’. She wishes she didn’t do something that extreme but it felt right in the moment. She just wanted to protect Adora and be by her side, that is all she had ever wanted. Little did she know, something she did in her childhood would come back to bite her in the ass, but it could also be what she needs at that moment. When she got back to SW’s house she stared at her grey wall, it was grey because that's the way SW had it painted before and didn’t bother changing it. She thought about how lucky she was to have such supportive friends and such an amazing person as her best friend.

She thought about how lucky anyone would be to even get to know Adora, Catra considered it a blessing (even if she wasn’t religious) to get to be Adora’s best friend. She also thought about how she didn’t deserve Adora, and how she probably never would be what she considered “worthy” of being her best friend. Or even “worthy” of being able to think of Adora as her crush, and how she is lucky to dream of one day being more than just best friends with her, how badly she wanted to be able to hold her close and be held close back in return, or walk around the halls of school holding her hand. And everyone knowing that Catra was hers, and vice versa. That happiness she was envisioning soon came to an end hearing the door open, and with that, knowing that SW was back at what SW made her call “home. Even though she had never considered it as such. Catra always felt alone there, because SW didn’t actually care about her, and never did, it seemed to remind her of her time at the Horde, but without the joy that was called Adora. Adora was the only person who knew about her home situation,

However, soon that night, Catra knew that SW wouldn’t be home for a few days, she did that sometimes and had never given a real answer as to why she left. She really only told Catra that she was leaving so that she could get food for herself and not “worry”. Truth be told, Catra would be much more relieved than worried if SW went missing for a couple days or more. Her life would be much more healthy, happy, and free if SW wasn’t in it. She only had a maximum of two years left here. Soon enough, Catra heard the familiar rumble of Mara’s car (Mara is Adora’s adoptive older sister who is now in college). Catra had insisted that she could walk to Adora’s house for their two day long sleepover. However, Adora, insistent as ever, said that she wanted to drive Catra there, for what she said was “y’know, practice and stuff”. 

Catra hopped in Mara’s car (Adora only had her permit, therefore, she doesn’t have her own car yet) and plopped her two bags in the backseat, while she got in the front with Adora, they didn’t really say much since it was only a few minute drive. When they got to Adora’s house, Razz gave them both some dinner and they ate with her and Mara. Catra had to give it to Razz, she made the best pie Catra had ever tasted. She also had to admit that she also made pretty good steak and asparagus. They finished eating and said thank you. Mara eyed them both and they didn’t realize why until they looked down and noticed they were holding hands. They blushed but once again, did not let go of each other. 

“Hey Catra, do you wanna sleep in my room with me or in the guest room?” Adora asked while fiddling with her shirt. Catra noticed she was a bit tense, so she answered the question and asked one of her own. 

“I think I wanna sleep in here with you if that is alright. I feel a lot better with you than I do when I am by myself. Are you okay? You seem pretty tense, did something happen?” Catra asked with genuine concern in her voice, Adora pretty much the only person who she would so much concern or fret over. 

“Uh, yeah? I think so, it’s just Mara was looking at us weird when she noticed we were holding hands. It makes me wonder, what do other people think of us? Why do they always give us weird looks at school? There would be nothing wrong even if we were dating? So why do people even care?” Adora was starting to get angry, Catra could tell that much, it made her angry too. If Adora was starting to be affected by people judging Catra’s sexuality and assuming things about her and Adora’s relationship, of course it would make them both angry. That should first be their business, it doesn’t matter if one of them likes the other, it is still nobody else’s business, just their own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tysm for checking in with the story, the title for this chapter comes from the song from grimes and poppy, the lyrics don’t have much to do with any of this, but the title fits in with the beginning of the chapter with catra and octavia. ty again for reading, please feel free to leave comments and or kudos.


	4. she

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Adora have a sleepover and they play a game of truth or dare, a certain question that Adora asks Catra makes her say a "very believable" lie. They watch some movies. (this makes this chapter seem so boring but I promise it isn't)

Adora was absolutely correct, even if they were dating (which they sadly, were not) it would be nobody's business. She did not hate the thought of dating Adora at all. It was really the only thing she had ever truly wanted, but it was selfish to think of Adora as anything more than her best friend. And it would probably be that way forever. She could probably ask Adora on a date, but she would say yes even if she did not want to go, that’s just the type of person she is. Always trying to be so considerate of everyone’s feelings but her own. Even if it just meant she had to bottle everything up, it was better that way for everyone else. Catra was the only person who she had ever been emotionally vulnerable with about her feelings. Naturally, Adora thought she was bound to start having feelings for her best friend, she was always so perfect and everything she did made Adora smile. 

Catra had a crush on Adora ever since they were little, never listening to what the Horde said about how everyone there thought about same-sex relationships and people in ‘that community’ as they said it. She had always secretly hoped that Adora didn’t follow the Horde’s ideology. She knew Adora did not agree with them, but what she did not know was if Adora liked girls too. She always hoped she did, even if it was selfish. It was one of the things that she allowed herself to be selfish with, because whenever she thought about them as a couple, doing couple-y things like holding hands, or cuddling while watching a movie, it made Catra’s insides flutter and she almost always blushed. She just really hoped that Adora had the same thoughts about her, and maybe she even got butterflies when she did think them, if she even did have those thoughts. 

“Hey, Catra, wanna do something?” Adora asked, them having just finished watching a movie. They had watched “But I’m A Cheerleader”, and Adora found herself relating to Megan. Sure she had thought about Catra in a couple-y way more than a handful of times, but that was normal, right? She had always thought that it was, she had always thought that the girls on her team also had thoughts when they saw each other changing. But that isn't the point. They had both found parts of the movie pretty sad, but they had both enjoyed it nonetheless. 

“Sure, what do you want to do Adora? I'm down for whatever you wanna do.” She hadn’t meant for it to sound like that, but she meant that she would do anything that Adora wanted to do with her. 

“I wanna play truth or dare with you.” Catra was kind of scared but she hoped she would be able to lie her way through certain questions, she had been able to lie to people very easily at school, but it was a very different story with Adora. They had spent their childhood together at the Horde, and all of their schools lived together, Adora could usually tell right through Catra’s lies, she could tell by her body language. Adora usually found herself staring at Catra’s body, which is why she subtly noticed the changes in the way she moved when lied. She also thought that everybody paid very close attention to their friend’s bodies, but that movie had told her that most straight people do not in fact stare at their friends like that. 

“Okay.” Catra had only agreed because she would do anything for Adora, she most likely would not have agreed if it were anyone else, like Bow or Glimmer. She didn’t care about them as much as she cared about Adora. Nobody would ever be able to compare to Adora in Catra’s mind. So of course she wouldn’t mind a small game of truth or dare. The game went very smoothly, with some small pranks like calling their principal with some fake number trying to order pizza, or calling Bow and Glimmer and saying something dumb to them. A little later in the game, Adora asked Catra a question she was hoping would not come up.

“Do you like anyone right now?” Adora asked her heterochromatic best friend and long time crush (although she is just now realizing that). She really hoped the answer would be yes, even though if she did say yes, it most likely would not be herself. Mostly because she was not out to anyone, barely even to herself. Catra tensed up at hearing those words come from Adora’s mouth, of course she had a crush, she had been crushing on Adora since they were kids, she was in love at this point. Although she would never tell Adora until she felt like the blonde would be ready to hear that. Which would probably be never, she did not want to ruin the most important relationship in her life, or scare off the thing that made her the happiest, like she said earlier, nothing would ever compare to Adora. 

“Uhm, n-no.” Catra stuttered out, it was pretty obvious that she was lying, but Adora felt that Catra wasn’t comfortable with saying it, and she didn’t ever want to force her to say something that she wasn’t ready to, she decided not to press her for more information. Catra was very obviously nervous about her answer, anyone could be able to tell that she was lying. For Catra’s sake, Adora decided that they were done playing truth or dare. They decided that they would watch another movie. They agreed on watching “Heathers” even though they had both already seen it, they watched it the last time that they had a sleepover. It was something they could watch without having to pay too much attention, since they had seen it before. 

“Catra, I’m cold, come up here.” Adora had asked, she wasn’t actually cold, she just needed an excuse to get close-no closer to Catra. When Catra got up to the head of the bed, Adora already had her arms outstretched. Catra complied and let herself be held by Adora, and buried her face in Adora’s neck. They both fell asleep like that after about half an hour, because neither of them were actually watching the movie, they paid more attention to each other’s touch and how good it felt when they were cuddling. They wondered that if they were a couple, could they do this all of the time. They woke up even closer than when they had fallen asleep, they both got quite a rosy blush when they noticed their current position with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys! this chapter was the most fun for me to write so far. as most of you might know, the title for this chapter is from dodie’s song, “she” and i felt fit their story very well. Tysm for reading and please feel free to comment and/or leave kudos. also i might post another chapter today because i'm making milk bread and im gonna write while the the dough rises, so :)


	5. escapism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra wakes up from her sleepover with Adora feeling very guilty about letting herself get that close to her without revealing her true feelings, which are much more than platonic. SHe lets herself think about how happy she would be if they were together as a couple. She decides that she wants to come out to Scorpia and Perfuma, and she does (with Adora's help). This is just a one-off day, and regular upload schedule will continue, just wrote three chapters in a day, so I wanted to post.

After waking up cuddled up so close to Adora, Catra couldn’t help but feel guilty, after all, this was just a normal friendship thing, and Catra felt as though she was taking advantage of it. After all, Adora did not have romantic feelings for Catra as far as she knew. She felt guilty ‘taking advantage’ of their friendship like that, using moments like the previous night to fuel her imagination, and thoughts of them being together romantically. That was all Catra could think about on her walk home. She felt so bad that when she woke up, she decided to leave without saying goodbye to Adora. It wasn’t like she could explain why she left, or even apologize to her. 

On the other hand, she thought about how wonderful it would be to wake up with Adora like that everyday. She fantasized about her and Adora being able to be happy together, just the two of them. Them in their own apartment, basking in each other’s presence. Catra at their stove making her girlfriend dinner (because as Catra learned, Adora is not a very good cook) when her blonde girlfriend comes up from behind and grabs Catra’s hips and kisses her on the cheek. Then they would fall asleep in their shared bed, holding each other and talking to each other lovingly. This was Catra’s guilty pleasure, dreaming about her possible future with Adora, with them finally being able to be together.

Soon enough, she reached what SW referred to as “home”, although Catra never thought of it like that, it was simply just a place to stay until she could move out. She considered her home to be wherever she could be alone with Adora. When Catra reached “her room”, she decided to just get ready for school, since it wasn’t like she could go back to sleep, she would have to leave soon enough anyways. She also thought about what would happen if SW found out that she was a lesbian, she hoped it would never have to come to her finding out, she would never have to see SW again after she leaves for college. However, it would be even more ideal if she could find somewhere else completely to stay while she is still in highschool, but she would still want to stay in town, so she could be with her friends, and more importantly Adora. 

She decided to walk to school so she didn’t have to sit around doing nothing for any longer than necessary, plus the earlier she got to homeroom, the earlier she got to see Adora. She got to school twenty minutes earlier than the busses would, which meant twenty more minutes with Adora. Adora always got to school early, because Bow and Glimmer drive her, they all live on the same street. They could really come as early as they wanted because Glimmer’s Aunt was the principal, so she let them roam around whenever they got there. 

“Uh-uhm, hey Adora! Sorry that I left without saying anything this morning. I feel really bad about it.” Catra was being one hundred percent honest about feeling bad about leaving without saying anything. She didn’t want to explain why she had left, and she knew Adora wouldn’t press her on it, but she also knew Adora would wonder why she had done it, but hopefully it would not eat at her brain that much. Great, just add some more guilt to Catra’s conscience. Like there wasn’t enough there already.

“Hey, it’s okay Catra, it’s all good. Don’t beat yourself up over it.” Adora said, knowing she probably would have done the same thing, if she were being honest with herself. She remembered how they fell asleep, cuddling each other, and that thought had stuck with her since she woke up. She openly accepted her feelings for Catra at this point, although she was almost positive that she would never say them out loud. For now, she would just allow herself to imagine them as a couple, and bask in the feeling of the two of them being close to each other. It was her escape from reality, even though she had nothing to escape from, she had a great home life with Razz ane Mara, she had amazing friends, and an even better best friend. Adora knew that she wanted to come out to Catra soon, because she was very sure that Catra would support her.

“I want to come out to Scorpia and Perfuma today. W-will you help me?” Catra asked Adora, even though she knew the answer would always be yes. Adora always wanted to help Catra, it was one of the little things that made Catra’s inside fuzzy, because she knew that Adora truly cared for her, and wanted to help her, take care of her, and spend time with her. 

“Of course I’ll help you Catra. I am so proud of you for letting yourself tell the people you care about. We’ve both grown so much since leaving the Horde, and I can’t be happier about it. Wanna tell them at lunch?” Adora really meant it when she said she was proud of Catra. She was letting herself be open and vulnerable to other people besides Adora. That was something she knew younger Catra would never do. They really had grown a lot since both getting adopted out of the Horde, for example, Adora had started letting herself want things. She wanted Catra, and her younger self would never have never been able to admit that.

Soon enough lunch came around, Catra felt ready to come out to Scorpia and Perfuma. She knew that they would accept her because they were literally dating each other, they wouldn’t be able to discriminate against Catra if they were both lesbians themselves. Catra looked at Adora, and Adora gave her a knowing look and a comforting smile. They both got up, Adora grabbed one of Catra’s hands and rubbed her thumb for comfort. It ended up making the both of them blush, but it got the point across. “Uhm, hey Scorpia, Perfuma. Can I talk to you guys? Privately?” They both nodded and followed her and Adora outside the doors of the cafeteria. 

“So, what’s up wildcat?” Scorpia asked in that cheerful voice of hers, it was always amplified whenever she was with Perfuma, when they were with each other, they seemed to ignore almost all of their surroundings, just focusing on each other. Wildcat is what Scorpia had called Catra ever since they had met in eight grade. Catra didn’t really like the nickname, but she put up with it anyways. 

“I um just wanted to tell you both that I am a lesbian. I of course already told Adora, I also told Bow and Glimmer.” When Catra started talking, Adora squeezed her hand a bit tighter to show her support. The little things like that are what fueled Catra’s imagination of her and her Adora being together. Adora liked being able to comfort Catra like that. 

“Catra, we are both really proud of you!” Perfuma always tried to help Catra be open about herself, and she was really glad she was finally able to start taking the first steps of trusting others. Perfuma pulled the four of them into a hug and Perfuma and Scorpia actually started crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone!! this is just an extra chapter i wrote while waiting for my milk bread to rise (it turned out pretty good). tomorrow’s update will still be coming out, i just wanted to put this one out early. the title is from the song “escapism” from steven universe and is also sung by aj michalka (catra’s v/a) and i thought it fit pretty well. Anyways, ty all so much for all the support on this story and feel free to leave comments and/or kudos, tysm again!!


	6. take me to church

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was a few weeks later and Catra and Adora had been as close as ever, most people mistook them for dating. Their friends DT and Lonnie knew they weren’t but teased them about their relationship anyways. It didn’t really bother Catra, but Adora had some feelings about it. She thought about what it would be like to really date Catra, and how much she wanted that. She had decided that she knew she was a lesbian a few weeks ago after cuddling with Catra at their sleepover. She didn’t want to tell anyone though, because it felt like there was something wrong with her, she had no problem when she saw other people around her being gay, it was just drilled in her mind that it was wrong for her to be gay after everything that Hordak and the other orphanage workers told her and said about other people they knew.

Adora always felt left out when people would talk about their crushes on guys from school, or their current boyfriends. That also meant she had a bad time comforting them when they had a bad break out, or when they find out their crush is dating someone. She never really felt attracted to guys in any way, she would always think about how pretty girls were, but she had always thought that it was normal. She just always assumed that she would eventually come around to liking guys, however junior year came around and she still didn’t find guys appealing. She realized that it was normal for girls to like other girls after Catra had come out to her a few months prior. After her best friend came out, she realized being wlw was actually quite common. 

In the Horde liking the same sex was heavily frowned upon, and they made some of the older kids who were still stuck there, to go to anti-pride rallies. So even though she knew there was absolutely nothing wrong with being gay, she loved Catra-WAIT, she could finally admit that part to herself. But she would never stop supporting Catra, after all, there was nothing wrong with Catra, she was amazing. So why does Adora feel like there is something off with herself? She had come to terms that she was a lesbian after the feeling she was left with when she cuddled Catra. However, the issue was, she was terrified to admit it to other people, she had a hard enough time admitting it to herself, so it was surely going to be difficult to admit it to other people. 

She wondered if Catra felt the same things before she came out to Adora. She wondered if she would feel much better if she came out to Catra, she knew Catra would be there for her, and comfort her. But that would only further fuel her budding love for her best friend. She wondered if this is what Bow and Glimmer felt before getting together, well, without all of the internalized homophobia. Not that they didn’t struggle a bit, they were both bi and both had to come to term with it. But neither of them were raised by adults trying to seed hate and insecurity in them, after all Bow had two dads, and Glimmer’s parents were allies. 

Back to Adora’s insecurities, it had been a few weeks since her and Catra’s sleepover, and they were closer than they had ever been. They did simple things like holding hands between every class and in the hallways. However, because of that, it led most people to think her and Catra were a couple. The looks people gave her and Catra in the hallway made her very insecure, specifically the looks Huntara and Octavia gave the two of them. Adora knew Huntara had liked her the previous year, when she learned that Adora did not like her back, she held this (almost) vendetta against her because her feelings were not returned. And of course, Octavia held something against the both of them, more towards Catra, but still Adora too, because Catra did what she felt was protecting Adora. 

“Hello Darlings! How have you two lovebirds been?” As Cata and Adora blushed at DT’s assumption, Lonnie gave them a fist bump and they both let out a small giggle. They had both known DT, or Double Trouble since middle school. And they had both known Lonnie since they grew up together in the Horde, she got adopted around the same time as Catra. So she got to see firsthand, Catra sulk about having to sleep in her own bed, since she could no longer sleep in Adora’s. Lonnie was the first person to notice that Catra and Adora were hopelessly in love with each other, she had to deal with them being obnoxiously affectionate with each other. 

“Hey DT! Y’know me and Catra aren’t actually dating right? As much fun as that would be though.” Catra was a bit taken back by what Adora said, she thinks it would be fun to date her. She was probably just joking, she thought to herself, sadly. But she truly did hope that she wasn’t joking. 

“I am sadly aware of that. Anyways, Lonnie and I are gonna get out of your hair, so you can go back to pining for each other and basking in the romantic tension.” Lonnie was even a bit shocked at that one, she thinks that they might have taken that one a bit too far. Even DT thought to themself that they may have taken the joke a bit too far, but they knew they were right. They just wanted Catra and Adora to get their feelings for each other out, watching them yearn and pine for each other was honestly just painful for everyone to watch. 

For the rest of the day, Catra and Adora were left to think about and drown in their love for each other, not knowing for sure if it was or would ever be mutual. Little did either of them know, they would soon have to find out, whether they wanted to or not. Catra would also be forced to be in a very uncomfortable situation due to someone in her past with an axe to grind. And Adora would have to let herself want things, and be open and vulnerable to the person she loved and cared about most. She wanted Catra to know everything about her, including her orientation, that she had been hiding from herself. When she was little, she had never thought of her future self being at this point, hiding in the closet because she was scared. At least when she was little, Catra was always able to know what she was thinking and could help her defend herself. But right now, she was the most scared to tell Catra, and she did not know why, she had absolutely no reason to be. 

Catra was a lesbian herself, so why would she care if Adora was? Adora was overthinking this, she was spiraling herself into a storm of stupid questions like, “What if she acutally isn’t and is just pretending to set me up?”, or “What if she gets brainwashed by SW and suddenly becomes homophbic?” but none of the questions floating around in her head were logical. She knew that, of course, but they didn;t stop them from being there. The Horde was haunting her by getting in her head like this, even though she was in a happy, stable home with Razz and Mara. They both loved and cared about her, but the Horde had to plant insecurities in her at such a young age that they still bothered her years later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone!! This chapter is very important to me because of how i struggle with internalized homophobia and i can see myself projecting onto characters. the song for the chapter title is “take me to church” by hozier and i am sure you all know the meaning of it. i felt it fit this chapter very well considering this chapter explains what adora is going through, and the perspectives on it. i tried something new by writing the chapter summary in advance and i kind of like it. the next chapter is very exciting and i cannot wait for y’all to read it. tysm for all of the support on this story, as always, feel free to comment and/or leave kudos!!! Ty again, ily all <3


	7. i'm breaking down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora starts breaking down her own feelings, and wants to share to Catra, her whole identity, but has some irrational thoughts about telling. It is also her first soccer game of the season, and she invites all of her friends to come watch, they all do and DT notices something about Catra while watching her.

Adora knew she wanted to come out to Catra, she felt like it was the least she could do. She felt like keeping it to herself was hiding something from her best friend. She felt like she would be more comfortable with Catra knowing, than just herself. She wanted to tell Catra because she knew Catra would understand, after all she was a lesbian raised in the Horde too. She probably went through the same things, and how she might have also doubted her own identity. She decided that she would tell Catra before her first soccer game of the season (if the nerves didn’t get to her first). She decided to go to the locker room, even though it was at least an hour before the rest of her teammates would get there, it was a home game so she didn;t have much to worry about.

She texted Catra and asked her to come meet her in the girls locker room. She didn’t know why but she had started crying. She figured it was just nerves getting to her, or maybe it was that she was scared that Catra would judge her, even though she knew that it was irrational, and that Catra would only further comfort her. Catra walked into the locker room and Adora didn’t notice until she was in Catra’s arms. Adora knew it was because she was crying but that didn’t stop her from being happy that Catra deeply cared about her. She decided to let herself be comforted and she cried into her shoulder until there were no more tears.

“Hey Adora, are you okay? What’s got you so down?” Catra asked as she started playing with Adora’s hair. That instantly calmed Adora’s nerves about her coming out. She really did not want Catra to worry about her, she did not want to cause Catra more stress than she already had to deal with about SW at home. Especially because she had to hide her true self from SW. Also that Adora was the only person who knew what Catra was subjected to at home. She felt as though Catra trusted her enough to tell her about her issues, and trusted Adora to comfort her. The thought of that made Adora smile into Catra’s shirt, where she was still shoving her face into, due to the fact that she had just finished crying.

“Uhmm, I think I’m good now, especially that you’re here. I asked you to come here so we could be alone, I have something that I want to tell you.” During the middle of Adora’s sentence, she started doing the tapping thing with her foot that she always did when she was nervous. Catra immediately noticed and kept playing with Adora’s hair to calm and comfort her. Adora knew that there was no backing out of this now. She knew that there was no genuine reason for her to be freaking out about. She knew Catra would not care if she was a lesbian, and that there was no negative to her coming out to Catra. But there was still this voice in the back of her head, instilled in her childhood by the Horde.

“Okay, what is it? I won’t judge you for anything you could tell me. You don’t have to beat yourself up over what’s bothering you. I could tell there was something eating at you for the past few weeks.” Catra said in genuine relief that Adora finally wanted to tell her what had been bothering her. It was proof in the flesh that they had both changed since being in the Horde, they hadn’t had positive parental figures when they were going to be affected by it most, so they relied on the comfort of each other to grow up on. Even when they did that, there were still some things the Horde forced upon their feelings, conscience, and the voices in their heads.

“I know you won’t judge me, and that’s kind of why I’ve been so scared. It’s irrational that I feel this way, but the way we were raised instilled in me that nobody truly cares about me, and I have all of these double standards. What I wanted to tell you is that I’m a lesbian Catra” When Adora finished her sentace she instantly felt the weight being lifted off of her shoulders. She knew telling Catra would make her feel better, but she didn’t know it would be this much better. What she also didn’t know, was that one of her teammates had come in, taken a picture of them, and left already. But that wasn’t for them to worry about, at least not right now. They were allowed to be happy with each other in the moment, and hopefully forever.

“Hey, Adora, that’s perfectly fine. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, or with you. I know you would never think that there was anything wrong with me, so I don’t want you to think that about yourself. I care about you so much Adora, I don’t wanna see you upset like this, or thinking lowly of yourself. I am here for you no matter what, okay?” Catra whispered more words of comfort into Adora’s ear, she mostly just said things so Adora wouldn’t feel alone, and so neither of them would get overwhelmed by the silence. Catra genuinely wanted Adora to feel confident with herself and truly did hate seeing her struggle with her identity because of the way they grew up.

Soon enough, Catra had to leave so Adora could get ready for her game, and she met up with all of their friends in the stands. She sat in between Bow and Glimmer to stop them from doing lovey-dovey stuff in front of her. DT sat next to Bow, and Lonnie sat next to them. Perfuma, Scorpia, Mermista, Sea Hawk, and Entrapta sat in the row behind them. Mermista had to put up with Sea Hawk’s antics and fire jokes for the entire game, while Perfuma and Scorpia were flirting with each other. While flirting, Perfuma was also making a flower crown to give Scorpia. 

At one point during the game, Adora made a goal, Catra cheered a bit too loud for her. That caused her to blush, only DT noticed that though. That just fueled their thoughts of thinking Catra and Adora were a couple, at this point, they might as well have a binder full of material and evidence that Catra and Adora were hopelessly in love with each other. How was it not deathly obvious to everyone else? Was everyone at Brightmoon really that dense? They really hoped not, it might actually kill them if Catra and Adora do not get together soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone!! the chapter title comes from the musical falsettos, ironically so does the name of this fic, and my other catradora fic, although those are both lyrics. i really felt that most of the contents of the song fits how they both feel. i have decided that i will be updating daily from now on! also, should i do like questions in the notes? like asking everybody if they have any suggestions for this story, or any future stories that I would write. anyways thank you all for all of the love and support on this story, as always, feel free to leave a comment and/or kudos!


	8. nowadays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter is when Octavia starts to take her revenge by outing Catra to Shadow Weaver in an attempt to get her kicked out. SW does what she thinks is best for herself, leaving Catra in an unwanted situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like i should add a warning, so warning for homophobia.

Catra came back to SW’s house a bit later than she would have liked to, but it was okay because SW was still not home yet. She would have time to think some things over without somebody constantly criticizing every little thing she does. Catra decided to stare at her blank, grey wall while she sorted out her thoughts. Now that she knew for sure, that Adora did, in fact, like girls. She considered her options, she could ask Adora out, but if she said no, their friendship could crumble and they would never be able to talk to each other without it being awkward. Or if Adora were to say yes, would she say it out of pity? Maybe something would work out if Adora knew Catra liked her, but Catra wasn’t about to let that happen.

For now, Catra would let Adora be happy for figuring out her identity. Even if she unknowingly played a huge part on Adora’s realization of her sexual orientation. Adora decided that Catra didn’t need to know that, or as least not yet. Adora also liked Catra, much more than platonically, but Adora wasn’t ready to admit that to anyone else yet. She had a hard enough time admitting it to herself, so nevermind anyone else, even Catra. She was also scared of one day telling Catra, she thought it would ruin their friendship, and that she shouldn’t assume Catra likes her back just because she was a lesbian too.

Catra was disturbed out of her happy but albeit overwhelming thoughts when she heard the front door slam closed. That meant Shadow Weaver was pissed about something. Today was going to be even worse than usual. Whenever SW was pissed about something it was usually very trivial and/or childish. She would get mad over things like Catra’s nails getting too long, or the dishes not being dry, But today was one of the days she seemed really angry. Catra got called to come downstairs, so obviously it had something to do with her. She racked her brain trying to figure out if there was something that had done wrong, or if there was something pathetic she had forgotten to do or clean, but she never came up with anything. Catra took her time going downstairs, it wouldn’t matter her speed if she was already getting in trouble.

“Catra, I know you are a lesbian.” Shit, how did she know that? Catra was absolutely terrified, had one of the people she trusted to know outed her? She had really hoped that wasn’t the case, if so, she was sure she would never be able to trust someone other than Adora. What was SW going to do? She did not want to find out, things at this house were bad enough as it already was, this would be sure to completely wreck things.

“You know that sort of thing makes me very uncomfortable, and yet you chose this life anyway. It is disgusting and unnatural, you need to leave. I cannot believe this and I have never been more disappointed with you. Get your things and get your disgusting ass out of my house.” SW scolded Catra for something that she could not control, it was something that nobody control, and would never be able to. Catra still wanted to know who had outed her like this, she knew that nobody she told would have outed her. So it must have been someone watching her when she came out. She thought of people she had held a grudge against, which, as it turned out, was a lot more than the thought. The two most prominent in her mind were Huntara and Octavia. 

“W-who told you?” Catra was very worried at this point, she really wanted to know which one of her enemies it was this time, it was this time. The biggest suspect was Octavia, after all, she was the one with the one with the permanent scar on her face because of Catra. If she were in Octavia’s position, she most likely would have held a grudge until she got her revenge. But she would have never done something this extreme, this could potentially ruin Catra’s life. As of a few minutes ago, she was homeless. 

“So you admit it? Anyways I got the tip from one of your old friends from when you were in the Horde. She has a nasty scar on her face, I don’t remember her name though. She told me that she overheard you coming out to two friends, and you were holding Adora’s hand. You must be in love with her huh? She also showed me a disgusting picture of you and her cuddling on the floor at school. She a lesbo too? Are you two dating now? Doesn’t matter anymore. Pack up your things and get out of my house.” Catra was stunned, first of all, that SW had to even bring Adora in the conversation.

Second, that SW was seriously kicking her out. What she did expect, was that the person that ticked SW off was Octavia. She was such a piece of shit over something they both did when they were children. She had to contact somebody to stay at their house, so she wouldn’t be stuck on the street. However she did not want Adora to know about this, she felt as though she had burdened Adora enough with all of her home problems already. She would have to go to someone who lived alone, so she didn’t have to explain anything to anyone’s parents, even though she knew they would support her. The only person she knew who lived alone, so she ran upstairs, texted them explaining her situation, and in the process came out to them. 

Then she packed up her things, which could be condensed into 5 boxes and a backpack. DT agreed to let her stay in their guest room, so she didn’t say a word and shoved everything into their car. Hoping she would never have to see SW’s face again. When she got to DT’s apartment she thanked them and went to the room she should be staying in. She threw her boxes and on the floor and started sobbing. She had always craved approval from important figures in her life, and currently, she had none. She couldn’t tell Adora about any of this, knowing it would stress her out and she would offer to let Catra stay with her. Catra thinks she couldn’t even bear even seeing Adora’s face for a bit, so she opted on not going to school for the rest of the week, considering it was Tuesday, she would have a bit of time to think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone! this chapter was lot. the title for it comes from the musical, chicago, i kind of just thought it matched up with the way SW and Catra interracted and how SW thinks of Catra. anyways, how are y'all enjoying daily updates? personally i am really enjoying being able to write everyday, it keeps me motivated. tysm all of you for almost 1k hits! as always, feel free to comment and/or leave kudos.


	9. heart of glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week goes by and Catra is not to be seen at school or at Shadow Weaver’s. Adora is freaking out because she is very worried about her crush/best friend. She cries to Bow and Glimmer and they assure her that Catra will be okay. Glimmer starts asking all of her and Catra’s friends if they know anything about if they know where she is. The last person she asks, DT, says that they know where she is and can take Adora to her when school ends. Adora of course says yes because she has never felt more lonely and just wants to talk with Catra about her own identity and how Catra could figure herself out.

The rest of the week goes by, and for some people specifically, it goes by rather slowly. One of the people who’s week goes by miserably slow, is Adora. The reason being, is that she has not seen or heard from Catra since her game on Tuesday. She is extremely worried because she knows what Catra goes through at home, and she wonders if SW has anything to do with Catra not being at school, and also taking her phone so she can’t text Adora and tell her that she is okay. Adora sends a million texts to Catra but never gets a response, the same thing goes for calls.

She thinks, not very logically though, that Catra could have stopped talking to her because of what she told Catra before her game. She stops that thought dead in its tracks, thinking that once again- NO, Cayra would not do that to her, especially after what they went through as kids, they promised to all stay with each other and protect one another no matter what. They never wanted to break that promise, and hopefully they hadn’t yet. Adora needed to talk to Bow and Glimmer. She didn’t know what she was going to tell them yet, she didn’t know if she would have to tell them about SW and how manipulative she was, but she would if it comes down to it.

She sent the both of them a text in their group chat asking if they could hang out when school ends. They would both say yes, and even if they didn’t she could talk to them in the car and the drive home. Unsurprisingly, they both said yes, and decided on Bow’s house to hang out at. Glimmer drove them there, and they all walked to Bow’s room, saying hello to George and Lance on their walk there. “Uhmm, I asked you guys to talk, because I am really worried about Catra. I don’t know if she is avoiding me, or if she is sick, or if something happened at home.” She probably shouldn’t have said that last part, because now she would have to explain Catra’s home life, but that isn’t the point now. 

“Slow down Adora, why would she be avoiding you? I doubt she is, because I don’t think she would skip school, just to avoid you. She is probably fine, but you need to talk with us.” Glimmer said, with a serious tone in her voice. Adora did want to tell them what she had told Catra on Tuesday, and she also knew she was being irrational by thinking they would hate her and possibly try to avoid her too. But that wasn’t what was important right now, what was important was that Catra was missing. 

“I told Catra something that I’ve been really insecure about for a really long time because of the way we were raised. It might have made her uncomfortable, and I just don’t know what to do.” Adora started crying at the last part of her sentence. Bow and Glimmer pulled her into a hug and started to comfort her with things like “It’s okay Adora, you can tell us” and “Shh, I can guarantee that it isn’t something you did.” and Adora really did try to believe them, but the self-doubt still bubbled inside her. She decided that for Catra’s sake, she would tell them. 

“On Tuesday, I told Catra that I-I’m a lesbian.” Adora felt good saying this to Bow and Glimmer, and she knew that they would not judge her because they were both bi.

“Adora, you think Catra, who is a lesbian herself, is avoiding you becuase you came out to her. I don’t think that’s why she isn’t responding to you. And for what you said that it could be home problems, it could be that, I don’t know anything about Catra’s home life. I am assuming you know more than I do?” She was right, Adora knew more than Bow and Glimmer, about Catra’s home life and how much of a shitty person SW is. 

“I know that I might sound a bit irrational right now, but what if someone outed Catra? Like not one of the people that she told on purpose, but if someone was watching her and they told SW and she is now living on the streets with no phone.” Adora knew part of that was irrational, but it was completely logical that SW would kick Catra out if she found out that Catra was a lesbian. She didn’t even know SW but she knew, just from what Catra had told her, that she was homophobic. If anyone were to get Catra kicked out, it would probably be her long time enemy: Octavia.

“Is whoever she lives with homophobic? And I doubt she is on the street, she could be staying with any one of our friends, maybe she is just a bit upset and isn’t ready to see anyone yet? I could text everyone and ask them if they know where Catra is if you want? This is obviously bothering and upsetting you.” Adora nodded her head through the tears, she was genuinely worried for her best friend. Glimmer was also very worried for Adora, she hadn’t seen her this stressed or upset ever.

“Hey, she is gonna be okay Adora, I promise, Glimmer anyone responded yet?” Bow said, he always the best person in their friend group to go to when you needed comfort, he had learned a lot from his dads.

“Actually, yes. Good news Adora, DT says they know where Catra is and you can come see her today. She is staying at their house. They don’t wanna explain it to me, for Catra’s privacy, but I am sure she would want to explain it to you when you get there.” Adora was very relieved that Catra was okay, but also kind of concerned about what had happened to lead her to staying at DT’s apartment. Adora thanked Bow and Glimmer for helping her figure things out, and for finding Catra with her. Glimmer volunteered to drive Adora to DT’s apartment so she wouldn’t have to walk all the way across town. 

Adora pretty much ran to Glimmer’s car after saying goodbye to Bow, George, and Lance. She got in Glimmer’s car and anxiously tapped her foot against the ground, excited to see Catra, but nervous to see what had happened to her. And nervous to see why she didn’t go to school, or answer any of her texts. But overall it was more relief knowing that Catra wasn’t out on the street somewhere, or hurt. She knew that DT would have taken good care of her, and made sure she ate at least. Quickly enough, they both reached DT’s apartment and Glimmer dropped Adora off before driving away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone!! tysm for 1k hits, ily all!! the title from this chapter comes from the song "heart of glass" by blondie, i feel like the lyrics match the whole mindset adora is un so far in the story. i am pretty excited for tomorrow's chapter and i i feel like you guys will really like it. tysm and once again feel free to comment and/or leave kudos! <3


	10. here comes a thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora asks Catra an abundance of questions about what happened, was she hurt, and once Catra explained what had happened, Adora just held her while Catra sobbed into Adora’s neck. DT then leaves them both alone, hoping they would figure out their own feelings for each other. When Catra calms down, Adora suggests that Catra move in with her.

Adora was ecstatic to arrive at DT’s apartment so she could see Catra. She had been so worried for her, since she hadn’t been at school since Tuesday, and didn't answer any of Adora’s texts, or any of her calls. She had been absolutely terrified for her best friend and her well being. When she reached DT’s door, she was about to knock, but DT opened the door for her before she even got the chance. She thanked them for taking care of Catra, but immediately when she stepped into the apartment, she started calling out for Catra.

“Adora?” Catra called out quietly from the guest room she was staying in. Adora heard her and ran over to the open door. She saw all of Catra’s things in boxes except for a few outfits, a hairbrush, and phone charger. She ran over to where Catra was sitting on the bed, and pulled her to the most tear-filled hug either of them had ever shared, they were both so full of emotions, and neither knew how to express them other than crying to each other.

“Catra? Are you okay? What happened? I missed you so much. I’m sorry, I probably made you uncomfortable on Tuesday, if that’s it, I am really sorry.” They were both full on sobbing now, they buried their faces into each other’s shirts, as an attempt to silence themselves. They could hear DT leave the apartment, probably to give them some privacy. They both appreciated the gesture and made a mental note to thank them for that later.

“Hey, Adora, I promise that it wasn’t what you told me, I am really happy that you told me that. It was SW, she kicked me out because Octavia somehow found out that I’m a lesbian and she, she told SW.” Catra was now sobbing into Adora’s shoulder, knowing she was the only person who could be able to comfort Catra like this, she was also the only person Catra felt comfortable being open and vulnerable like this in front of. 

“Okay Catra. I cannot believe she did that, I am assuming SW is homophobic then? If you want to, can you please tell me what happened?” She did not want to pressure Catra into saying anything that would make her uncomfortable or upset her even further, but she did want to know the whole story, 

“I can tell you Adora, I trust you. When I came home from your game, I had like half an hour to myself before SW came home. SW got home and was more pissy than usual, she yelled for me to come downstairs, so I did. She told me that she knew I was a lesbian. I didn’t say anything at that point, I was mostly just in shock, thinking someone that I told had betrayed me. She told me that I should have thought about how uncomfortable that made her, and how disgusting and unnatural it was. She told me how disappointed she was in me, and told me to grab my things and get out, I was so upset, Adora.” Adora let Catra cry into her shoulder until she was ready to continue talking, she still wanted to know more though, like why Catra didn’t tell her. 

“Catra, why didn’t you tell me? You could have stayed with me. I care about you more than anything, I was worried sick, ask Bow and Glimmer. AH, I’m sorry, that sounded a bit like I am pressuring you.” Catra was still crying at this point, but it got a bit quieter when Adora started playing with her hair.

“I really did want to tell you, but I knew you would feel obligated to help me and I didn’t want to put all of this stress on you. I realize that I should have told you, because I can see how worried you were. I just felt so scared Adora, it was like all of my insecurities about being a lesbian just took over me all at once. I’m really sorry Adora.” Instead of having something in response, Adora just kept playing with Catra’s hair and telling her everything would turn out alright.

“Hey, there is no need for you to apologize, alright? Also, it is perfectly fine if you say no, and I don’t want you to feel bad, but, do you want to move in with me? I am sure Razz would be perfectly fine with it, and Mara of course would be fine with it. You could stay in the extra room for as long as you need, if you want.” Adora did not want to overwhelm Catra with the offer, and sincerely hoped she would say yes to it, Adora knew how lonely Catra felt. She really did want the best for her best friend, and if that meant never revealing her feelings, than so be it. 

“Are you sure? I really wouldn’t want to intrude, or disturb your daily regular life. And you are sure that Razz and Mara wouldn’t mind?” Catra was unsure of herself moving in with Adora, and she knew that spending so much time with her would only further fuel her romantic feelings for the blonde. However, on the plus side, she would have a positive adult role model to live with, well technically two if she were also counting Mara, but she was still in college. 

“Yes, I am sure, I just texted them both and they said they would be happy to have you there with me. And you wouldn;t disturb me at all, I would feel a lot better knowing that you were safe with me, instead of at SW’s house, you should have never had to deal with her in the first place. I’m sorry you ever had to stay there, and I am sorry about what Octavia did, she is a terrible person and always was to begin with.” Adora was genuine with her being sorry for Catra, she felt that after what they went through in childhood, that she should have never of had to deal with SW.

“Okay, then I will. Thank you so much Adora, I don’t know where I would be without you.” With the end of her sentence she put her arms around Adora, Adora returned the gesture by removing her hands from Catra’s hair and put her arms around her once again. A silent gesture that meant the world to both of them. However they were interrupted by DT opening the door, apparently that had come back already. They both explained that Catra would be staying with Adora for now, they thanked them for letting Catra stay there. 

Adora texted Glimmer and asked her to come pick her and Catra up in an hour. For the next hour they packed up Catra’s things, which weren’t much considering she didn’t unpack much in the first place. They had about fifteen minutes to spare, so they just cuddled up on DT’s extra bed, and boy were Glimmer and DT excited to see that when they came to tell Catra and Adora that Glimmer had arrived to take the both of them home. When they unpacked Catra’s things at Adora’s, Catra overcame her fear of being vulnerable and asked if she could sleep with Adora for the night. Of course Adora said yes, first the first night in awhile, Catra fell asleep peacefully, without any worry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone! last night was so wild for me, the other day i rejected this guy who asked me out ( i was nice about it) and he sent his friends to my instagram and tiktok to harass me in my comments, and gave them my personal phone number and they called me a number of slurs and harassed me for liking danganronpa? then he blocked me and my best friend's numbers so we cannot text him. anyways, the title for this chapter is another song from steven universe, and it is about forgiving yourself and i feel like it fit very well. tysm for reading, and as always, feel free to comment and/or leave kudos! ily all <3


	11. lovefool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra gets used to living with Adora again, and they decide to have a movie night. They end up talking about wanting to come out to more people.

It had been a few days since Catra had moved in with Adora, Razz, and Mara. So far they had been some of the best days in the past few years. She did not have to worry or think about SW breathing down her neck, or feeling constantly watched and lonely. But when she spent almost all of her time with Adora, she never had to worry about hiding her identity, and she didn’t have the fear of being judged for anything by Adora. It was just like when they were kids being raised by the Horde. Another thing that was similar to when they were kids, was that Catra was always sneaking into Adora’s bed and they would share. Now she didn’t have to sneak, and she didn’t sleep at the foot of Adora’s bed, now she stayed cuddled up with Adora, which in both of their opinions, was even better.

And since Catra had moved in, she didn’t have to take the bus anymore, she went with Glimmer, Bow, and Adora in Glimmer’s car. They all lived on the same street now, so the best friend squad could all drive to school together, and hang out together before and after school. Another thing Catra could do now, was hang out with people after school. She considered SW kicking her out to be a blessing in disguise. She got to be even closer to Adora, and let herself imagine being a couple, even if it was selfish, she now realized that she was allowed to want things, SW never let her do that. Catra felt like whenever she was at SW’s, that SW somehow controlled what she was allowed to think, but now that she was at Adora’s she had free reign of her own thoughts. 

Adora also had this new habit of kissing Catra on the cheek when they were alone. It both made them insaney embarrassed, but the thought of stopping never crossed their minds even once. Around three days after Catra had moved in, they decided they wanted to do a movie night with each other. They both picked out a movie, Catra ended up choosing Scott Pilgrim, Adora had noticed Catra had a habit of liking 2010s cult movies, that girls their age do not like. They had both agreed that they enjoyed the movie. Adora on the other hand, chose a sad movie. She chose A Silent Voice.

By the last forty-five minutes of the movie, both Adora and Catra were a bit saddened by the movie, and Adora asked Catra if they could cuddle. Catra agreed, of course, she wanted nothing more than that too. Moments like this only added coal to the ever burning fire of Catra’s thoughts of being Adora’s girlfriend. “Hey Catra, can I talk with you for a bit?” Catra could tell that Adora was nervous by the way her food was shaking and how her voice wavered. She started playing with Adora’s hair to calm her nerves, just like Adora had done for Catra.

“Sure, what is it Adora?” Adora always knew Catra was being genuine when they talked. It was because Catra knew she didn’t have to put on a false ego, or care about some reputation to maintain. She could just be herself, the self that Adora had known since they were just little kids. The self that she constantly drove herself to be closer to, in the hopes that one day , they could be a cutesy little couple, and give each other casual, regular kisses, instead of kisses on the cheek like they were doing now.

“I, I um want to come out to more people. You were the first person I told. And before I came to get you from DT’s apartment, I told Bow and Glimmer, they accepted me, which I expected, despite irrational thoughts. But I want to tell the rest of our friends, and Razz and Mara. But I don’t know if I am ready yet, I know I will be accepted, but I still have this voice in the back of my head telling me there is something wrong with me.” Adora was crying now, Catra was still playing with her hair at this point, it was calming her, to some extent at least. 

“Hey, Adora, I know that you would never think that about me or anyone else, so please don’t try to push this impossible standard or whatever on yourself. There is nothing wrong with you whatsoever. I totally understand wanting to come out to more people, whenever you are ready, I will help you, just like you helped me come out. I want to come out to more people too, and I am willing to help you through doing it. All of our friends, plus Razz and Mara, will unconditionally support you, no matter what.” Catra shed a tear at the thought of Adora being disgusted with herself, she should never have to deal with anything like that, not anymore, and she certainly shouldn’t have had to think that in the first place.

“Thanks Catra. The same goes for you alright? I know you are insecure about yourself because of what we had to go through when we were little, and what you had to go through at her house, you won’t ever have to feel like that again. I am here for you too, alright Catra? I care about you more than anything else.” Adora truly wanted Catra to feel supported too, they would always be there for each other, they made that promise a long time ago, and they never ever wanted to break it.

“No problem Adora, we will always have each other’s backs, no matter what.” By the time they had finished talking, the movie was over and Adora’s TV had gone dark. So Catra and Adora were let to their own devices, cuddling with each other, basking in their hidden romantic feelings for each other. Soon enough they had both fallen asleep, Catra was on top of Adora, but also kind of beside her. Her hands were both behind Adora’s neck, holding her close, just like she had always wanted to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys!! tysm for 1.4k hits, ily all!! the name for this chapter comes from the song "lovefool" by the cardigans, i feel like it fit the way catra and adora think of each other in this chapter. anyways ty again all of you for reading, and as always feel free to comments and/or leave kudos <33


	12. dark paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Adora both feel pretty embarrassed after waking up cuddling each other, they feel really happy about it though. They blush as they get up to get ready for school. Since moving in with Adora, Catra has been being driven to school along with Adora, Bow, and Glimmer. Everyone in their friend group gets informed about a party Sea Hawk and Mermista are planning for Mermista’s birthday. It will be the next week, everyone in the group gets really excited and starts thinking about gifts. Bow already volunteers to be the designated driver for Glimmer, Catra, and Adora.

It wasn’t the first time Catra and Adora had woken up together like this, but it was by far the most embarrassing time, because they were about to run late to school, and Razz had come into Adora’s room to wake her up, and ask where Catra was, and if Adora had seen her. However she walked in, and Catra was still on top of Adora and they had their arms around each other. Razz decided not to comment on it, and just woke them both up and told them to start getting ready for school.

Catra got off of Adora so they could get ready for school, and so Adora could sit up. When they were both sitting up on Adora’s bed, they looked at each other and just smiled softly while blushing. “Morning princess, how’d you sleep?” Catra asked while still in that ‘just woke up’ haze. That had been the best sleep she had slept in years, mostly because of how close she was allowed to be to Adora without fear of getting caught. She and Adora were allowed to be happy in each other’s company now, without fear of being caught doing something “wrong”. The Horde would tell them that they were too close and how “wrong” it was for two girls to cuddle like they had been doing.

“I slept really well, Catra. But apparently not as well as you, you must have been pretty comfortable using me as a pillow huh?” Adora was just playing around, she would let Catra use her as a pillow whenever she wanted as long as it meant they got to be as close together as they had been falling asleep. Adora felt guilty letting herself want to be close to Catra, because she hoped that one day they would be able to be a couple. She felt bad because Catra did not know of Adora’s hidden feelings, that Adoraa considered an ulterior motive. What Adora did not know, however, is that Catra also had romantic feelings for her, and was feeling guilty too.

“Oh ha ha, we should get ready for school now though. See you in a like half an hour.” It took the both of them about half an hour to get ready. They both didn’t take long to get ready, Catra didn’t wear any makeup besides mascara, so that shaved a bit of time off. Adora was the same way, but she wore highlighter too. Thirty minutes later they met up in the kitchen and ate the breakfast that Razz had made them, it was eggs and toast, coffee for Catra, and a smoothie for Adora. They both deduced that Mara had already left since there were two plates in the sink, instead of just one for Razz. 

When Glimmer’s car pulled into their driveway, they grabbed their backpacks and thanked Razz for making them breakfast and waking them up. “Why did she have to wake you two up? What were you doing last night that you were sleeping that well? I know Adora is a very light sleeper, we’ve had enough sleepovers that I can notice that.” Both of the girls in the back were now blushing because of what Glimmer said, and what her words implied. 

“Glimmer, let them breathe.” Bow insisted, but not until after letting out a laugh at what she had said. Both Catra and Adora had thought “great, now Bow thinks we had sex too”, not that the thought bothered the both of them. They both wanted nothing more than to be more than friends, but they also did not want to ruin their friendship that they’d spent their entire lives working on. 

“For your information, we were watching movies together last night and fell asleep together.” Catra snarled, faking being angry at Glimmer, they were both joking. They were always playful like that, Adora found it pretty cute, but she wouldn’t dare tell Catra that, or at least not while sober. The rest of the car ride to school was spent in silence with Bow occasionally looking back at Catra and Adora, who were currently resting their heads on each other and holding hands. How could they not see it?

Soon enough, lunch came around, and all of Catra and Adora’s friends were talking about the party that Mermista had announced before they all started eating. Mermista had invited everyone to her eighteenth birthday party that she and Sea Hawk were hosting. Her birthday was October twenty-first, and was the next week on Friday. She said that there would probably be alcohol and asked if they were all comfortable with that. They of course all said yes, either all having experience with it, or wanting to try it for the first time. DT was especially excited to see how Catra and Adora would interact when drunk, hoping it would encourage them to talk about their feelings for each other.

Catra and Adora were also very excited to try alcohol for the first time ever, and being happy about their first time trying it would be in each other’s presence. They both wanted to see how much the other could handle. Catra suspected that Adora was probably a lightweight. Bow volunteered to be Glimmer, Catra, adn Adora’s designated driver so they could just have fun, and he would get to have fun watching them be all drunk and funny with each other. He was also secretly hoping that Catra and Adora would just get tipsy enough to tell each other how they really feel, because it was deadly obvious to everyone else around them. 

Mermista also informed them that her little cousin; Frosta, would be in attendance because they were very close with each other. So she told everyone to keep it mostly tame and not do anything too crazy in front of her, but they could still drink in front of her, Mermista was very sure that Frosta wasn’t a snitch. She also said that Frosta would be staying the night at her house, and so was Sea Hawk, so the extra room would be occupied. 

When Catra and Adora got home, they started arguing about who they thought would be able to handle more. Catra of course went with that she would be able to handle more, and she was probably right about it. Adora insisted that she would be able to handle a lot, Catra poked fun at Adora that she was already clumsy enough when sober, and that she would be even worse when drunk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys!! i am really excited for tomorrow's chapter, and i think that you guys will really like it. the title from this chapter comes from lana del ray's song "dark paradise", it doesn't really match but i just kind of liked it. ty again for the hits on this story, and as always, feel free to comment and/or leave kudos. ily all <33


	13. big fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is Mermista’s birthday, and her parents weren’t home, so everyone comes over. Catra and Adora both try alcohol for the first time. DT, Bow, and Glimmer notice how blushy, flustered, touchy, and close they are getting with each other. Glimmer and Bow were keeping a close eye on Catra and Adora, but they looked away for a few minutes and they were both gone. Catra and Adora were hiding in some random room....

It was finally the day of Mermista’s party, and the previous day Adora had made Catra go to the mall with her to pick out new outfits for the party. Adora had bought a medium length red dress that showed off her body, and Catra did not mind that in the slightest. Catra had went with black ripped jeans, a red lace cropped bustier, and her black leather jacket. They both knew that they were going a bit overboard, but they weren’t doing it for anyone else, they were just trying to impress each other. And boy was it working. 

They had both finished getting dressed and it was around six-thirty in the afternoon, and they both thought that the other looked absolutely stunning. Catra had offered to do Adora’s makeup because it was one of her guilty pleasures, and she didn’t get to do makeup often. While doing Adora’s makeup, Catra had to straddle her and that caused the both of them to blush, but it did not deter her from the art she was doing on her best friend’s face. When she was finished they both had thick black eyeliner, with a bit of red eyeshadow on the outer bottom of their eyes. 

At 7:15, Glimmer’s car arrived in their driveway, and Bow was in the driver seat, the party started at 7:30 and they would get there right at the starting time. Glimmer was wearing fit n’ flare pink jeans and a simple white button-up, and Bow was wearing a white crop top (with an arrow on it) and wide-legged ripped jeans. Much simpler outfits than Catra and Adora, but then again they weren’t trying to impress each other, they had sorted out their feelings awhile ago. 

They got to Mermista’s house, and only Sea Hawk, Frosta, Perfuma, and Scorpia were there already. They were still waiting on DT, Lonnie, and Entrapta. They could tell that Sea Hawk had already started drinking, but he hadn’t started with the sea shanties yet (thank heavens). Everyone else waited for the rest to arrive before drinking. In the few minutes that they waited, everyone made some small talk while Catra and Adora stared at each other (but tried not to be too obvious about it), they couldn’t help it when the outfits that they had chosen looked so good on each other. And fit their bodies so well. After a few minutes, Entrapta arrived and started observing everyone. DT and Lonnie arrived a bit later, they liked to call it fashionably late. 

Sea Hawk asked everyone if they wanted a beer (except Frosta of course), and all but Bow, DT, Entrapta, and Perfuma said yes. This would be Catra and Adora’s first experience with alcohol, the first sip wasn’t the best, but the rest of it was actually pretty good. By now, their faces were a bit red and Adora was getting a bit tipsy already, Catra was right with her guess of Adora being a lightweight. Catra was handling herself better than Adora, but not by much, at all. They were the giggliest of the group, and it would stay that way all night if they kept this up, which they most definitely would. 

Adora had already started with the semi-flirting by doing things like calling Catra gorgeous and complimenting her about her makeup skills. Catra couldn’t just say a simple thank you either, so she flirted back with Adora, saying similar things, but adding on about how attractive she finds it that Adora played soccer and was sooo good at it. It caused them both to blush. They hadn’t gotten handsy yet, but everyone else there, even Frosta, were suspected that it would get to that point very soon. DT wanted to raise a bet on who would kiss who tonight, but nobody wanted to risk their money, because it could be either one at this point. 

The food was finally finished cooking and there was a wide array of appetizers. There were mini corn dogs, potato skins, chips & dip, chicken fingers, mac & cheese, burgers, hotdogs, and pepperoni rolls. Everyone grabbed a plate and filled it with their foods of choice and those who were drinking grabbed another beer. Sea Hawk had lit up the fire pit outside and set of chairs for everyone. They all went outside and the fire was a good contrast to the night temperature. Catra and Adora had opted for sharing a chair, and Catra sitting in Adora’s lap. The rest of the group shared a few looks with each other, knowing that they would only get worse as the night went on. DT even told them to go find some closet to make out in already. However, they did not hear what they had said, because they were too absorbed in each other. 

When they had finished eating, Adora put her plate on the ground, and now having consumed two whole beers, she started to play with Catra’s curly hair. They were both full on flirting now, they obviously couldn’t handle their liquor (ik beer isn't liquor but whatever) very well. They were both light weights, but still it was more Adora than Catra. Around half an hour later, it was starting to get pretty cold out, so they all went inside, and Mermista made Sea Hawk put the fire out. They had decided that it was time to eat birthday cake, and it was marbled with chocolate and vanilla with best creme frosting. It had the words “Happy Birthday Mermist!” on it, but in the corner, in smaller letters, it also said “xoxo, sea hawk”. Mermista gave Sea Hawk a bit of a side eye for that. After they finished eating cake, Sea Hawk had gotten to the point of him being drunk enough to start singing sea shanties. If Bow had been drunk, he probably would have sung along. 

After everyone had finished their third beer, they all started to calm down and just talk. DT was still waiting on Catra and Adora to make a move on each other. Glimmer was also drunk, but she could still function and hold a regular conversation with Bow. That said conversation was about Catra and Adora, and how she just saw Adora lead Catra, by the wrist, away from the rest of the group. They had decided to let them be and not try to interfere, hoping one of them would get their feelings out. 

Meanwhile, through all of the giggling, Adora had grabbed Catra’s wrist and dragged her down one of the hallways and into some random room. They were now in some dark room, standing with each other while holding hands. They couldn’t see it, but they were both blushing, and did not know if it was because of all of the alcohol they had consumed, or if it was because of how close their faces were to each other. 

“Heyy kitten.” That was new, Adora had never called Catra that before and neither of them particularly hated it, although it thoroughly embarrassed Catra, she kind of liked it. Although she would never admit that to Adora, maybe??

“Mhm, hey Adora.” Neither of them knew where this was going, but they liked where it was currently. Soon enough their faces were inches apart and they could feel the other’s breath on themselves. A slightly more drunk Adora, grabbed Catra’s face and pulled her in for a kiss. They went back and forth for a few minutes before pulling apart and realizing what they had both done. “I-i have to go.” Catra was terrified of what they had just done, she needed to leave and find somewhere else to stay for the night. 

She went to find Bow and Glimmer. “We need to leave, I cannot explain right now, but I did something that I should not have, and I can’t stay at Adora’s tonight. I will explain in the morning when I am sober. Glimmer, can I stay at your house tonight?” Both Bow and Glimmer were stunned, and Glimmer agreed to let Catra stay, they all agreed that it was time to get going, and Bow went off to find Adora. He finally found her and put her in the front seat of Glimmer’s car, while Bow and Catra sat in the back. The ride home was silent and tense, and when Adora got dropped off, she was wondering why Catra hadn’t gotten out with her, then she remembered what she had started doing at the party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys! this chapter was long huh? the title comes from the musical version of heather, and i just kind of thought it fit because of the whole party scenario. anyways y'all, next chapter is gonna be very exciting for everyone. can you guys tell i've never drank before from this? anyways, ty again for reading, and as always feel free to comment and/or leave kudos <33


	14. hold me now, i'm finally fulfilled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was the morning after Mermista's party and Glimmer wanted an explanation as to why Catra had asked to stay at her house last night. Catra explains and Glimmer tells her to just go talk to Adora, so she does, and they work things out.

This is the first time Catra had been hungover, and she was not in her or Adora’s room. Then everything that had happened the previous night came rushing to her head and she remembered why she was on Glimmer’s floor. “Catra, are you awake? Can you finally tell me what happened last night” Great, Glimmer must have been up for how long, watching her. 

“Uh, yes I am awake. I guess I kind of owe you an explanation, right? But first, I need to know that you will not judge me for this, or tell Adora. But why are you awake already, it’s only like seven.” Catra had to check her phone to see the real time, she had to be hungover too right? She did remember Glimmer drinking last night too.

“I promise Catra, I just want to know what happened. And I am up because I had to throw up, I don’t think I will ever be used to that.” Well, that much could be expected. Catra didn’t know how to start explaining what had happened last night, and she knew she would have to reveal some of her feelings for Adora, that were much more than platonic. 

“Okay, so last night, you remember Adora pulling me away from everybody else right? She took me into some random room, and we were all close to each other, and we were holding hands. And she called me something she hadn’t before, and then she pulled me in and kissed me.” Glimmer watched Catra talk with her mouth agape, a bit shocked, but she knew something like this would happen. 

“Wow, nobody saw that one coming. What else happened?” Glimmer wanted to know, so she could dump Catra off at Adora’s so they could finally just talk things out and be together, and so she could tell Bow about this.

“Nothing else happened, that’s when I left to find you and Bow.” Catra was a bit embarrassed that she had left without saying anything like that, but she was too shocked at what Adora had done.

“YOU WHAT?” Glimmer seemed pretty mad at that, even though it didn’t really concern her. “Why would you do that Catra?”

“It’s not like that’s what I wanted to do. Adora was drunk, and not in her right mind, I couldn’t stand there and let her do something she would regret.” Catra was a little bit upset now, thinking about how what Adora had done and how Catra pushed it off as a drunken ‘mistake’

“Who said she was going to regret it? Did you just assume that?” Glimmer looked smug saying that, did she know something Catra didn’t?

“Well, no she didn’t say she was going to, and why would I assume anything else. Adora just wants to be friends.” Whoops, Catra regretted saying that, the second it left her mouth, because now, it was implied that she wanted to be more than friends with Adora, which was true, but she didn’t know if she was ready to admit it. 

“Gods, you two are so dense. I, along with everyone else, except for you apparently, believe that it is pretty obvious Adora likes you. But the question is, do you like Adora?” Catra was too stunned to think of a cohesive answer, people thought Adora liked her, as more than a friend? Was that really even possible at this point?

“You really think she likes me?” That pretty much answered the question Glimmer had asked, she could tell by the way Catra’s heterochromatic eyes sparkled with hope. 

“YES YOU IDIOT!! EVERYONE ELSE DOES TOO!” Glimmer was getting pretty loud at this point, and she just wanted them to tell each other how they really felt. 

“Wow, okay, I should talk to her. I should also probably explain to her why I stayed here last night, thanks for that Sparkles.” Glimmer rolled her eyes at the nickname, and she offered to drive Catra back to Adora”s. Catra politely declined, because she was only a few houses away. She thanked Glimmer again, and started her walk.

Meanwhile in Adora’s room, she had just woken up, and she felt sick, she knew it was a hangover, but it was the least of her worries. She started frantically texting Bow and Glimmer asking if they knew where Catra was. Glimmer reassured her that Catra was fine and on her way home. As soon as Glimmer sent that text, Adora heard her door open. “Adora, are you awake? Catra said softly, not knowing if she would wake up Adora. 

“Catra! What happened? Are you okay?” She hadn’t meant to worry Adora at all, but she could tell that Adora was frantic.

“Hey, it’s okay, I am okay. I stayed at Glimmer’s last night. Speaking of last night, can we talk?” Adora heart dropped, she was thinking those irrational thoughts again, what if Catra hated her for what she did last night? What if Catra stops wanting to be my friend? Gladly, none of those thoughts were the case, it was in fact the opposite. 

“Oh, um, yeah, we can talk. But first can I say that I’m sorry for what I did, I didn’t ask, and I don’t know your feelings.” The guilt had been eating at Adora since she had woken up this morning.

“Hey Adora, it’s not your fault, we were both drunk alright? And because you don’t know my feelings, you don’t know if I liked it too, right?  
Catra felt really bold saying that, and she kind of hoped that Adora got the message.

“Wait a minute, if you liked it, then why did you leave, and stay at Glimmer’s?” Now Catra was getting why Adora was so nervous, she did leave without saying anything, and when Adora woke up, Catra was not there. 

“I, I’m sorry for leaving last night without texting or saying anything, I was really nervous. I still am to be honest, but I did like it when you kissed me .I think I would like it a lot more if we were sober.” Catra was sure her point was across now, and was hoping Adora felt the same, it was now or never for them.

“I, Catra are you sure? Are you still drunk? Do you really want this, like I do?” Adora saidd the last part fairly quietly, but Catra could still hear it. She could feel Adora being overwhelmed and in disbelief.

“I am a thousand percent sure Adora, c-can you kiss me? If you want, you don’t have to though”. Before Catra could ramble on any longer, Adora grabbed her face and pulled her in, this was their real first kiss, a make up one from last night. They both melted into each other. They pulled away after around thirty seconds, with rosy cheeks.

“Wow”

“Don’t ruin it Adora” Catra was only joking, and she knew that she could have had the same reaction.

“Gods, Catra, I love you so much.” Catra sat back down in disbelief, had Adora really just said that? Did she mean it? Before she could try to stop herself, Catra started crying.

“Catra? Catra are you okay? Was that too much?” Adora did not apologize for what she had said, because she meant it with her whole heart. 

“No, it’s just that I am so happy Adora, this is all I’ve ever wanted, I love you too idiot.” They were now sitting on the end of Adora’s bed holding each other, in bliss and a state of peace only they would be able to achieve in that moment. 

“Does that make us girlfriends now? Adora asked, even though she was very sure that the answer would be yes (unspoken) even if she didn’t ask.

“If you are okay with it, than I would like that too.” Then Adora, instead of replying, kissed Catra again, it was their second real kiss, not that either of them were counting (which they totally were).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys! i think this has been my favorite chapter to write so far, and i really hoped you all liked it. the name comes from the song 'hold me now' from carole & tuesday, which i 100% percent reccommend if you are looking for a show. also y'all might be able to tell that i've never been hungover from this chapter. ty all for reading, and as always feel free to comment and/or leave kudos <33


	15. pound the alarm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Adora tell their friends (plus Razz and Mara) about their relationship.

“So, do you want to start telling people, or just keep it to us? I am fine with whatever you’re comfortable with Adora.” Catra was trying to be considerate, because she knew that Adora was terrified of coming out to the rest of their friends and her family. 

“I think I am ready to tell everyone, you know, considering that now I have the best girlfriend in the whole world. I wanna tell Razz and Mara during breakfast, will you help me? And Bow and Glimmer, we should hang out with them today, and thank Bow for driving us yesterday.” Did Adora really think Catra was the best girlfriend? Anyways, Catra was excited to start telling everyone that they were officially together (finally). 

“Alright, whatever you are ready for Adora, and of course I will help you. I love you y’know?” Catra was ecstatic to finally be able to say it casually, even if it makes her heart burst everytime she says those words and hears them back. Then Adora texted Bow and Glimmer in the best friends squad group chat and asked if they could all hang out today. They all said yes and that they would meet at the park around 12. Finally Catra and Adora could hear Razz and Mara getting up and making breakfast. They would not have to explain that they went to the party last night, because they had told them both before they went last night. 

“Aww, I love you too. We should probably go eat, and then take some showers, since we’re both in the same clothes we were in last night. Sound good baby?” Wow, Catra liked hearing Adora ceiling her baby a lot more than she thought she ever would. She almost forgot to respond because she was lost in her love and own thoughts. 

“Yeah, we should probably do that love.” Catra figured since Adora gave her a pet name, she should do the same. And she was right, Adora donned that same lovestruck expression that Catra had just a few minutes ago. They would never get sick of it. They walked to the kitchen hand in hand, ready to tell the world of their new relationship.

They both reached the kitchen and Mara was sitting at the table since she had nowhere to be (she is in college), while Razz was making breakfast. “Um, can we tell go guys something?” Catra could sense the nervousness in Adora’s voice and squeezed her hand a bit tighter to reassure her that it would turn out fine. 

“Of course, what is it, dearies?” Razz was always sincere whenever she was talking to someone, even if she was a bit loopy and out of it. Both Catra and Adora took a deep breath.

“Uhm, I-i’m a lesbian, and me and Catra are g-girlfriends now.” Both Razz and Mara’s expressions had not changed from the loving ones they were before, and Catra and Adora were hoping that meant something good. (It did)

“Okay dearies, congratulations. Is Catra going to be staying in your room now then?” Catra and Adora were both happy with that response and even though they had not discussed it, they both knew the answer and said “yes” at the same time. 

Catra and Adora ate, then took their seperate showers, they noticed they had a bit of time before they had to go see Bow & Glimmer. They both gave each another one of those knowing/loving looks and both came up with the idea to cuddle until they had to leave. Adora settled onto their bed, (that felt good to think) and motioned for Catra to come over. Catra had settled herself to be straddling Adora with their arms around each other and Catra’s face in Adora’s shoulder. It wasn’t until Glimmer had texted them, they noticed they had fallen asleep holding each other. 

Adora quickly responded with ‘oops, sorry, be right there, we fell asleep’, on her own phone, Glimmer noticed the “we” and started a conversation with Bow speculating on whether or not they had admitted the obvious yet. They both went with that they did end up telling each other their true feelings, and said finally, because they were the ones who had to watch them pine for each other the last few years. 

Finally Catra and Adora had arrived at the park, albeit 15 minutes late. “Hi guys, um, last night was pretty crazy huh?” Catra was trying to make small talk so they didn’t have to dive right into her and Adora’s new relationship turned romantic. Both Glimmer and Bow knew that wasn’t the reason they had wanted to hang out.

“Cut the crap you too. Out with it already.” Glimmer didn’t mean to get snappy with them, she really just wanted her and Bow’s speculations to be right, and for the two girls to finally be happy with each other. 

“Okay fine, geez. I-no we are dating now. Catra is my girlfriend.” Wow, she was so excited to start telling people that at school. Catra was excited too, Adora had a always had a ton of people hitting on her, and now Catra could tell everyone to leave her girlfriend alone. 

“Finally, that took forever, we could tell you two have liked each other for forever, probably since before you even realized yourselves.” Catra and Adora were both stunned, had they really been that obvious the whole time? Oh well, no use arguing about that now. They had other people to tell.

When they had told Scorpia and Perfuma, that had actually both started jumping in glee. When it came to DT and Lonnie, they gave each other a look and said “I told you so” in perfect unison. Entrapta said something about her calculations and predictions about their relationship being correct, whatever that meant. Sea Hawk and Mermista said they had guessed that since they saw the two girls wander off at their party. 

Neither of them were trying to hide their sexualities (anymore) or relationship, and they made sure everyone knew. Especially Huntara and Octavia, Huntara had obviously been jealous of Catra and now probably had some plan to kill Catra or something. As for Octavia, they both assumed she had thought something about her plan backfiring, and whenever they saw her, they made sure to kiss each other so that Octavia could see what she partially caused. It made them both happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys! tomorrow is the last chapter, thats pretty wild. anyways ty all for keeping up with this story. the title comes from 'pound the alarm' by nicki minaj, because they would both be really excited to tell everyone about their relationship. ty for reading, and as always, feel free to comment and/or leave kudos <33


	16. epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three looks into Catra and Adora's future.

It had been exactly one year since Catra and Adora had talked out their true feelings. And now they were in their senior year of highschool. Both were applying to the same school on scholarships, Catra was hoping to get a scholarship for her art. She had gotten into it after being inspired by her amazing girlfriend telling her to go for it, and as it would turn out, she had a natural talent for it. And Adora was hoping to get in for her soccer skills. “Do you really think we’ll get in Catra?” Adora was so scared to get separated from Catra, and hoped it would not come to it.

“Hey, we don’t have to worry Adora, I am confident in our abilities, we aren’t gonna leave each other behind love.” Catra felt weird saying that she was confident in something, but it was her and Adora she was talking about. Since her and Adora became official, she was much more happy and confident. No thanks to Adora’s constant compliments and love. 

It was a few months later, and as it turned out, Catra was right about them not having anything to worry about. They both got a full ride to their chosen college for art and soccer (individually). And Razz decided that she wanted to pay for their off-campus apartment so they could just be happy with each other. She wanted them to feel safe after knowing what they both went through as children. Catra and Adora were both very excited to have a space to themselves.

A bit before their freshman year or college, they started picking out furniture, and that was a pretty fun adventure at the store for them. Adora wanted to get a couch, that literally was made of jeans, and she called it a “jouch”, Catra had found it disgusting. But after a bit of discussing they agreed to get it if Catra could get what she wanted for decor, which was far less atrocious. 

_______

During their senior year of college, they had both decided that they wanted to go further in their relationship and agreed that one day, they wanted to get married one day. They hadn’t specified when, but they both agreed that it was something they really wanted. Now they were both plotting ways to propose to each other. They wanted to race to see who would do it first. Catra had decided that she would be the one who would do it. 

She got the whole thing planned out in her mind. She would take Adora out on a super fancy date and would propose when their desert came. She had had the ring picked out for awhile, before they had even discussed wanting to get married. But that was besides the point, but it also proved how much Catra loved Adora, and how she always would. 

Catra got dressed in a maroon silky button-down and black pants. However she didn’t put the buttons all the way up, so she could have Adora stare at the whole date, and that was the way they both wanted it. Adora wore a short dress that was the same color as Catra’s shirt. They wanted people to be able to tell that they were together easily. Well as easily without outright saying it. 

Their meal had gone without a hitch, and it came time to order their desert, so they did. Catra was nervous, but she knew Adora would say yes, hopefully. Soon enough their order came. “Hey, um, Adora, can I ask you something?” As she finished talking, she got out of her seat and got down on one knee. 

Adora responded by gasping as she knew what the question would be, and had the answer made up in her mind already. “Adora Greyskull, will you marry me?” They both had tears in their eyes, after all, they had gone through so much together.

“Yes Catra! Of course I will. I love you so much baby!” People were staring at them now, but not in a bad way. They started clapping and yelling congrats. Adora pulled Catra off of the ground and kissed her, then when they parted, they just held each other for a bit. Leading them to forget about dessert until they pulled apart. 

\-----------------------

A few years after their wedding, Catra was working as a tattoo artist, and Adora was a social worker. She wanted to help children that had been in similar situations she used to be in. Being able to help kids like her made both her and Catra feel good. And Catra was happy to use her artistic talent to make others feel good about themselves. Since they were older now, they decided they were ready to have a baby.

They decided that Adora would be the one to carry them since she could still do part of her job at home. They ended up with a perfect little baby named Finn. They had Catra’s skin tone and freckles, with Adora’s blonde hair. They looked like a perfect mix of their two mothers. 

Glimmer and Bow stayed with Catra and Adora for the first week they had Finn so they could help out Catra and Adora. Both Bow and Glimmer agreed that Finn looked like a good mix of Catra and Adora. Glimmer was expecting a child of her own. Bow and Glimmer ended up going to the same college as Catra and Adora, but they got married in their sophomore year, since they had been together so long and known each other almost their whole lives. 

Catra and Adora considered themselves to have the perfect life. They had the best child ever, and a romantic story to tell people. They both had their dream jobs and came home to the love of their life. They had the best and most supportive friends anyone could ask for and they had great kids too. All of their children would grow up to be a great friend group. And Catra and Adora decided that they also wanted to adopt a child, they wanted to help out a child who had been in a similar situation they had been in when they were children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone! ty so much for keeping up with this story and continuing to read it. i will be posting other works very soon, i am currently writing something about carole & tuesday, and i am planning another catradora au. one again ty all for the support, and as always, feel free to comment and/or leave kudos <33

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys!! This is my first multi-chapter story. Sorry this chapter is so short, I have all of the chapters pre-planned out and there will be updates every other day. Let me know if there is anything I can do to make this story better. Thank you so much for reading.


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